Mindset is like breathing...

That's easy; one the smartest, most successful businessmen of all time.

Just because you don't like him, doesn't make him an idiot.

 

Self-talk is self-belief.

 

This.

For me mindset is the conditioning of the mind as it is shaped by all the experiences we go through in life.

Conditioning has many levels, some quite easy to see with a bit of self-awareness e.g. our perceptions, beliefs, values, attitudes, likes/dislikes, prejudices, aspirations etc...

Some are less visible because they are buried deep inside our personality e.g. the subconscious, habits, reflexes, tendencies... Some aren’t even recognised as conditioning because they’re shared by most people and seem so natural to us e.g. the desire to live, experience, grow...

Conditioning at its deepest level takes the form of the ego i.e. the belief of ourself as separate from all other selves. This is the level that religions (mostly) try to work on, imperfectly obviously.

The discussion in this thread is more about conditioning of the first kind, the level that is the domain of “mindset gurus” as they’ve been doing it with more or less success, more or less authenticity.

When we reach adulthood we already carry quite a bit of conditioning with us. As we gather new experiences it could be expected that we’d modify it accordingly, however most people are stuck with it and can’t give it a shake. Instead of adjusting our behaviour to reality we tend to hold on to the same “reality” that has been shaped by our past behaviour.

To anyone reading this forum it’s clear that successful property investing requires a number of basic beliefs e.g. wealth can be made from investing rather than wages, delayed gratification is wise, effort and perseverance are essential, good debt is nothing to fear, risks can be taken, etc...

Some people are lucky to have this mindset from the start. They don’t worry about it and don’t need to be aware of it. They then go on to achieve great things and can’t understand what all the fuss is about. But plenty of people don’t have it at all. Because of this lack of beliefs they feel powerless... until somehow they “see the light”! To see the light is not to take action, rather to change mindsets so that action becomes possible.

So I can see where Keith is coming from. I was lucky enough to grow up in a family that taught me the value of hard work early on, and like Keith I feel it like breathing...

Oh by the way, meditation is nothing like a mindset. Rather, it aims to make you free from all types of mindsets, including the one called ego.

 

@truong you just posted one of the best posts I have ever read.

 

Seriously well put @truong

 

Self talk is exactly that - the way you speak to yourself. Many people never question their own thoughts and because of that never discover how much of what's in their head is a lie and holding them back.

You can see self talk in kids very easily -
"I'll never get this"
"I'm useless"
"I always screw up"
"All the other kids hate me"

Those thoughts take away any hope for a positive out come and completely disempower the thinker - they are very overwhelming, and the use of words like always, all, never are very permanent and don't leave room for possibility.

Helping kids (and people generally) listen to their own thoughts and reframe them is very empowering. Changing the above thoughts to reflect the truth can help them see hope in situations where they couldn't before -
"I don't get this right now" (not permanent and not ongoing)
"I'm not the best at this but I am very good at 'x'." (shows value and truth)
"I made a mistake this time" (not permanent and not ongoing)
"Some people don't like me but I do have 2 good friends" (shows value and truth)

Martin Seligman has a couple of excellent books on this, called 'Learned Optimism' and there's a version for kids as well. Highly recommended reading.

 

You do know that Trump is also massive on 'mindset' right?. Just saying.

 

When someone goes to do something, self talk is the voice in their head that tells them they can or tells them they can't. I had to find out a bit more about it when I started run training last year. I was feeling fine one afternoon and went to do my run training but as soon as I started I had a voice in my head saying 'I can't do this' and a lot of other things (negative self talk). It was so bad that I could not perform and had to pack up and go home I am a generally optomistic person so this really took me by surprise. Even though physically I was fine, I literally talked myself out of a good run session. Anyway, I did some work on developing strategies to deal with negative self talk and it never happened to me again.

Negative self talk can be challenged.

Most people don’t realize it, but as we go about our daily lives we are constantly thinking about and interpreting the situations we find ourselves in. It’s as though we have an internal voice inside our head that determines how we perceive every situation. Psychologists call this inner voice ‘self-talk‘, and it includes our conscious thoughts as well as our unconscious assumptions or beliefs.

Much of our self-talk is reasonable — ‘I’d better do some preparation for that exam’, or ‘I’m really looking forward to that match’. However, some of our self-talk is negative, unrealistic or self-defeating — ‘I’m going to fail for sure’, or ‘I didn’t play well! I’m hopeless’.

Self-talk is often skewed towards the negative, and sometimes it’s just plain wrong. If you are experiencing depression, it is particularly likely that you interpret things negatively. That’s why it’s useful to keep an eye on the things you tell yourself, and challenge some of the negative aspects of your thinking.
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Challenging Negative Self-Talk

 

Jarryd Hayne does some good self talking. In his nfl interviews before and after games he was always confident even after errors.he would always say things like - I'm here to be the best I can, or, I will do it, I will improve. Nothing to say he was an aussie in over his head.

 

Haha. Yes. Having positive self talk doesn't mean that outcomes will always be good. Look at the people who bought up a lot of properties in mining towns during the boom. I'm sure their mindset was good and they had a lot of positive self talk about how well they were going to do. How did that turn out?

I think it is more about having a mindset that allows a person to take action vs not taking action. Years ago my investment partner was very badly burned in a business deal that went wrong. Because of that he developed a mindset that he should never be in debt. I went through all the issues with him and showed him how he could make borrowed money work for him. Since then we have bought two investment properties together, without putting any of our own money in, and both have done very well. The mindset of 'Debt is bad. I can't get into debt again' is limiting and stops people from succeeding. The mindset of 'I can make debt work for me' enables people to take action and be successful.

However, as discussed above, taking action doesn’t ensure a positive outcome. A person can have a positive mindset, take action and lose a lot of money. The key here is education. Investors need to educate themselves on how to make money from property, risk mitigation, alternate strategies, exit strategies.

Mindset->education->action.

Skipping the education part and skipping straight to action can result in people losing a lot of money.

 

+1.

@Perthguy 'informed action' and not just 'any action'. Agree with you.

 

Agreed with Perthguy. I know lots of guys who talk to themselves all the time, and haven't excelled in anything.

Talking to yourself is very important, because you obviously miss all the darts you don't throw. But if you throw them recklessly, you'll probably miss and worse, if you hit an old lady, end up in big trouble.

Got to be grateful for what you have and for good timing.

 

This was good and I pretty nearly do all that except I feel my #4 answer is rather uninspiring.... my usual morning routine is to look on my phone, check out this site, check out facebook, get out of bed and ready for work, get on the bus, then look on here and facebook again....

5 Habits of the Wealthy That Helped Them Get Rich

 

Don't be ridiculous @Gockie, those 5 factors mostly don't count.

It's a lot more about luck these days I hear.

All luck.

 

No, that's wrong... i'm sure its 100% luck for those from Sydney.

 

Look at your own postcode

 

I luckily, accidentally stumbled across some interesting quotes by coincidence

I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the luckier I get.

I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike? Jean Cocteau
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.... I don't do 4 out of 5
I hang out in property chat mainly, and pretty non-social otherwise
Morning routine - walking the dog counts

 

Great thread with a lot of great comments!

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to this but i do believe in the following succession to building a healthy character : Thoughts->actions->habits->healthy character

It's the combination of the first two posts on this thread, by Keith and then Greyghost ,that makes the most sense to my mind.

Everything starts with our thoughts as per Keith's post and then it's up to our "why", as per Greyghost's post, to drive us to cultivate those thoughts and transform them into actions. Then the "why" nourishes our persistance/discipline and we end up with habits that in turn creates our character.

It's more like an eco system (Thoughts->actions->habits= mindset) where a healthy mindset (our healthy thoughts, positive self talk as per other posts for example) coupled with discipline (driven by the "why" ) that can better us.

As for the "why" part, i think that is unique to each one of us. Sometimes it starts from our own hardship or when we look up to someone and suddenly we want to be like that person...